Residential Care

Residential care refers to any group living arrangement where children are looked after by paid staff in a specially designated facility. It covers a wide variety of settings ranging from emergency shelters and small group homes, to larger-scale institutions such as orphanages or children’s homes. As a general rule, residential care should only be provided on a temporary basis, for example while efforts are made to promote family reintegration or to identify family based care options for children. In some cases however, certain forms of residential care can operate as a longer-term care solution for children.

Residential care can be a positive alternative for some girls and boys when it is used appropriately and meets certain standards. For example, small group home living arrangements or supported independent living can work well in cases where children (often older teenagers) don’t feel comfortable in a family setting, or where large groups of siblings want to stay together. Similarly in cases where children have suffered trauma, severe abuse or neglect, have a severe disability or require specialised support, small group settings where trained staff can provide therapeutic care may be an appropriate care option. As much as possible, residential facilities should be small, community-based, organised to resemble a family-type or small-group situation and allow for sufficient staff to provide individualised attention to children.

It is important to distinguish between residential care and institutional care, which should only be used as a last and temporary resort for children. Institutional care refers to large-scale group care within big institutional facilities and has been associated with a wide range of problems for children including physical, social and emotional under-development - with babies and infants under the age of three especially vulnerable to lasting harm. Long periods in an institution can deprive children of positive individual attention from consistent caregivers, make it difficult for them to assimilate back into a family and community, and are often linked to increased risk of sexual and physical abuse, a lack of stimulation, and harsh discipline.

In recent years, deinstitutionalisation has been at the heart of national care reform efforts, which seek to reduce reliance on institutional care and to promote family and community based care options for children instead. This includes efforts to promote ethical volunteerism within residential care centres, educate donors and to avoid proliferation of orphanages and children’s homes after humanitarian emergencies.

The documents in this section outline residential care options for children, examine the damaging impact of institutions, explore family and community-based care alternatives and describe care reform efforts including initiatives around ethical volunteerism.

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Caregiver Sensitivity and Consistency and Children's Prior Family Experience as Contexts for Early Development within Institutions

Brandi N. Hawk, Robert B. Mccall, Christina J. Groark, Rifkat J. Muhamedrahimov, Oleg I. Palmov, Natalia V. Nikiforova - nfant Mental Health Journal, 28 Jun 2018

The current study from the Infant Mental Health Journal addressed whether two institution‐wide interventions in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, that increased caregiver sensitivity (Training Only: TO) or both caregiver sensitivity and consistency (Training plus Structural Changes: T+SC) promoted better socioemotional and cognitive development than did a No Intervention (NoI) institution during the first year of life for children who were placed soon after birth.

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Prevalence of Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress, Depression and Anxiety Among Abused and Neglected Adolescents in Charitable Children’s Institutions in Nairobi

Stella Kemuma Nyagwencha, Alice Munene, Naomi James, Ricarda Mewes, Antonia Barke - American Journal of Applied Psychology, 18 Jun 2018

The purpose of this study was to establish the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety disorder, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adolescents with a history of abuse and neglect living in charitable children’s institutions (CCIs) in Nairobi County, Kenya.

Inequalities of Redress: Australia’s National Redress Scheme for Institutional Abuse of Children

Kathleen Daly - Journal of Australian Studies , 17 Jun 2018

This article reviews Australia's national redress scheme proposed by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and proposes two corrective measures: adopting an inclusive understanding of sexual abuse in closed and open settings, and addressing the negative bias that may result from care leavers’ lower social status as children compared to that of non-care leavers.

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Institutional Abuse: A Long History

Shurlee Swain - Journal of Australian Studies, 17 Jun 2018

This article explores the long history of institutions for children in Australia and of the existence of abuse within them.

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Residential Child and Youth Care in a Developing World: Middle East and Asia Perspectives

Tuhinul Islam & Leon Fulcher - The CYC-Net Press, 15 Jun 2018

This volume offers glimpses of extended family care as well as residential child and youth care in 25 countries never gathered together before in one collection.

‘I’m not getting out of bed!’ The criminalisation of young people in residential care

Alison Gerard, Andrew McGrath, Emma Colvin, Kath McFarlane - Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 04 Jun 2018

In this study, the authors interviewed 46 professionals who had contact with young people in residential care settings in New South Wales, Australia about their perceptions of the link between residential care and contact with the criminal justice system.

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Evaluarea Îngrijirii Alternative a Copilului în Moldova 2

Molly Cannon, Camelia Gheorghe, Moldova country core team - MEASURE Evaluation, USAID, 01 Jun 2018

This report, in the Moldovan langauge, presents the findings of an assessment workshop aimed at informing action planning to address priority needs identified in alternative care for children in Moldova.

Association of sleep with emotional and behavioral problems among abused children and adolescents admitted to residential care facilities in Japan

Masakazu Okada, Masaaki Otaga, Takako Tsutsui, Hisateru Tachimori, Shingo Kitamura, Shigekazu Higuchi, Kazuo Mishima - Plos One, 01 Jun 2018

In this study, the authors sought to identify sleep habits and suspected sleep disorders among abused children and adolescents admitted to residential care facilities in Japan and to investigate their association with emotional and behavioral problems.

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Assessing Alternative Care for Children in Moldova (Volume 1)

Molly Cannon, Camelia Gheorghe, Moldova country core team - MEASURE Evaluation, USAID, 01 Jun 2018

This report presents the findings of an assessment workshop aimed at informing action planning to address priority needs identified in alternative care for children in Moldova.

Assessing Alternative Care for Children in Armenia

Zulfiya Charyeva, Hasmik Ghukasyan, Armenia country core team - MEASURE Evaluation, USAID, 01 Jun 2018

This report presents the findings of an assessment workshop aimed at bringing together key stakeholders—decision makers, policy developers, service providers, civil society representatives, and donors—to assess and identify the main care reform areas in Armenia in which action is needed.